Following
on from the development of a standard Rover Metro, modified to
incorporate the patent battery cartridge exchange system, Bluebird
Electric Racing Ltd, have reduced the Metro component to just
the running gear. The unitary body is completely cut away and
replaced with a sturdy tubular steel spaceframe.

Metro
Electro frame under construction

The
length of the vehicle has been reduced to about that of a SMART
car. The seating is shown below as it was placed approximately to
produce a sporty looking buggy. The project continues. It is
hoped this vehicle will reduce the running costs to equate to 150 +
miles per gallon. The range of the car when fitted with a special
transmission is likely to exceed 300 miles per cartridge exchange (or
battery charge) and offer sporty performance. If not using a
CVT or Perbury (toroidal) transmission the range will be considerably
less, at around 200 miles per recharge.

Metro
Electro under construction 2006 - now undergoing a rebuild
as a sports city car

In
addition, this car will be fitted with an onboard generator, running on
unleaded petrol, to give the vehicle a hybrid capability, also likely to
return above 100 miles per gallon. This will provide a means of
keeping going, where either battery exchange is not practical or where a
convenient charge point is not to hand.

The
roof of the Metro-Electro is to be fitted with solar panels to
supplement the already comprehensive EV technology. The PV panels
will give between 1,000-2,500 free motoring miles per year, depending on
usage.

CHASSIS

The
foundation for this design development is the famous hydrolastic
suspension of Dr Alex Moulton and Sir Alex Issigonis, who both worked on
the Mini and Rover
Metro for Austin, Morris and other British car makers that no longer
exist. In this design, rubber cones are used and the springs and the front
and rear suspension is interlinked via fluid to give better cornering and
a smoother ride on rough roads.

For
2014 (January) the steel road wheels have been replaced with alloy sport rims and
low profile tires. A
nice line has been described for a body that is now actually taking shape
- as seen below.

August
2014 - the bare frame above is now beginning to take shape as the Ecostar DC50
- and not a bad looking shape at that. A fitting tribute to the 50th
anniversary of Donald Campbell's double success; land
and water speed records in the same
year (unrivalled today) at Lake Eyre and Lake Dumbleyung
in Australia.

The
UK led the way with EV refueling with patent GB2253379.
Since that time Shai
Agassi had developed cartridge refueling for urban vehicles with his
'Better Place' company. That system though, is not suitable for the fast
pit stops a Formula E car is likely to require. Tesla
have since gotten involved with a similar system to Better Place, and Elon
Musk demonstrating 90 second battery cartridge exchanges.

Now
is the time to think about a faster version of the system used in the BE1
electric
land-speed record
car. That car could refuel by exchanging batteries in under 2 minutes. The
EV designer says it is possible to reduce the 120 seconds time to between
10-30 seconds,
but, and the big but is, that chassis engineers must be allowed to think outside
of the box - and there must be a scoring system that penalizes a team for
using more than one car. In Formula 1 for example, if a car stalls and
cannot be restarted, that car and driver is disqualified from the race. In
a Formula 1 race a driver cannot switch to another car and continue. Why
then in Formula
E. We are pandering to the skeptics like Bernie Ecclestone.
Mr Ecclestone will be laughing on the other side of his face if racing
were qualified a success by the pollution it produces, per car, per race.

Bluebird
Marine Systems (BMS) is looking to conduct a feasibility study on high
speed cartridge refueling and is
looking for collaborative risk share partners and academic institutions
interested in reducing pollution. BMS has obtained the right
to develop an improved version of the patent GB2253379 system, as fitted to a Rover-Metro city
car many years ago and written off by the Dti,
in 1998 in dismissing battery
cars as futile.

Left
to right: BE1, BE2 and the latest BE3 world electric land speed
record cars.

Note
the increase in frontal area for the BE2 to accommodate a larger
battery cartridge. Compared to BE1 and BE2, the BE3 has a
smaller frontal area. The BE1 had wheels and suspension outside
of the bodywork - which is not shown in the diagram here.

A
flat-pack version of this system is suitable to be developed for
Formula E circuit racing.

A
brochure produced to attract sponsors to the BE1 project in 1995/6. The patented cartridge exchange refueling system is cited as the key technology for the
attempt. Not
a bad looking car and as it turned out, quite fast - more than capable of
taking the 175mph record
at the time. This car achieved 160mph unofficially on section of closed
road with 80kW (107hp)
motors - the short length of useable road being a limiting factor. She was
designed to